Canada captured a pair of relay silver medals Sunday to wrap up the season's first short-track speed skating World Cup.
(CBC Sports Online)

The Canadians placed second in the men's 5,000-metre relay and the women's 3,000. The results ended the weekend on a positive note for a Canadian team that failed to pick up any individual medals.

Mathieu Turcotte of Sherbrooke, Que., Jean-Francois Monette of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que., Charles Hamelin of Ste-Julie, Que., and Jonathan Guilmette of Montreal, placed second to the men's South Korean team and ahead of the third-place Chinese.

"We really set the rhythm of the race early on and I think the Koreans got more than they bargained for," said Guilmette. "Our guys didn't have a great weekend in the individual races this weekend so this was a nice way to finish. We got some confidence heading into the next World Cup."

The South Koreans also took gold in the women's relay, the Canadian team of Alanna Kraus of Abbotsford, B.C., Tania Vicent of Montreal, Amélie Goulet-Nadon of Laval, Que., and Amanda Overland of Cambridge, Ont., followed in second. Japan was third. "We had some strong relays for the first half of the race," said Goulet-Nadon. "Then we started to make some errors and that's when the Koreans got away on us. But we showed we're gaining more and more ground on the relays."

Vicent also posted a fourth-place finish in the women's 3,000 for Canada's best individual result of the day. Goulet-Nadon was seventh.

In other results, Kraus was 13th in the women's 1,000, while Robillard was seventh in the men's 1,000. The World Cup circuit resumes Friday in Beijing. with files from Canadian Sport News.

MEDIA ADVISORY/PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
OLYMPIC ATHLETES JOIN CANADA'S TOP CHEFS IN A CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE WITH CALGARY BUSINESS COMMUNITY AT GOLD MEDAL PLATES

Calgary, October 25, 2004 -Canada's most prominent Olympic athletes will team up with the nation's finest chefs at the Gold Medal Plates gala dinner on Wednesday, October 27 at 5 p.m. in the Fairmont Palliser Hotel.

High-profile Olympic athletes, both aspiring and retired, will each team up with 10 of Calgary's best chefs to make dinner for the city's business and sporting community. Guests at the dinner will eat a dish from each chef. The chef whose meal is voted by diners as the best, will vie for the honour of winning the national competition fundraiser at Whistler, B.C., in early November.

WHAT: Gold Medal Plates is a national project created to raise funds and awareness for Canada's high performance athletes through the Canadian Olympic Committee's Excellence Fund. Gold Medal Plates is a celebration of Canada's finest in the fields of athletics, food, wine and entertainment. Canada's top chefs, athletes and connoisseurs will gather for an Olympic-style culinary and wine competition. Tickets at $350 per person and sponsorships for this sold-out event have come through the exceptional support of the Calgary Oil patch and business community.

WHO: Olympians:
Catriona Le May Doan (speed skating) Michael Smith (decathlon)
Cary Mullen (alpine skiing) Joanne Malar (swimming)
Christine Nordhagen (wrestling) Kerrin Lee-Gartner (alpine skiing)
Curtis Myden (swimming) Ken Read (alpine skiing)
Hayley Wickenheiser (hockey) Michelle Cameron (synchro swimming)
Jeremy Wotherspoon (speed skating) Steve Podborski (alpine skiing)

Chefs:
Michael Stadtländer - Eigensinn Farm
Kevin Turner - Bravo Bistro
Ned Bell - Murrieta's
Chris Grafton - Willow Park G&CC
Duncan Ly - Catch
Dean Kanuit - Glencoe Club
Scott Pohorelic - River Café
Michael Lyon - Maple Leaf Grille
Martin Luthi - Fairmont Banff Springs
Shaun Desauliniers - Fairmont Palliser Hotel

Entertainment:
Renowned Canadian tenor Michael Burgess and renowned Violin virtuoso Eugene Draw.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 25, 2004

SCHEDULE: 5-6 p.m. VIP Private Reception with Olympians and Sponsors
6-8:30 p.m. The Chef's Competition
8:30-10p.m. Live Entertainment & Live Auction

FEATURE: The Olympic Torch on top of the Calgary Tower will be lit in honour of this special Olympic fundraiser from 5-7 p.m.

WHERE: Fairmont Palliser Hotel - Main Entrance. Calgary, Alberta

Oval X-Treme sweep opening series.

CALGARY – The Calgary Oval X-Treme picked up their third win against BC Breakers to sweep their home opening series this weekend at the Olympic Oval. They defeated BC ten to five.

BC came out strong, with Cammi Granato scoring two minutes into the first. She put a second in just after the half way mark. In the final minute, the X-Treme answered back with goals from Kaley Hall and Samantha Holmes.

Oval X-Treme’s Tia Hanson opened the scoring in the second. A goal from B.C. Breakers’ Courtney Unruh and a power play goal from Granato left them leading four to three halfway into the second. The X-Treme came back, putting in four unanswered goals from Hanson, Danielle Goyette, Denise Soesilo and Dana Antal.

Trailing five to two, Granato opened the third with another BC goal. The rest of the game went to the X-Treme with the final three goals coming from Holmes, Wickenheiser and Monica Dupuis.

“BC was very competitive,” said Tomas Pacina, coach of the Oval X-Treme. “It will be interesting to watch them develop.”

The triple-header was the Oval X-Treme’s first games in the newly formed Western Women’s Hockey League, which includes Edmonton Chimos, Saskatchewan Prairie Ice, Minnesota Whitecaps and the BC Breakers.

League play also saw the Chimos face off against the Whitecaps in Minnesota this weekend. Edmonton won Sunday afternoon after losing their first two games against Minnesota.

The Oval X-Treme face the Chimos at Bill Hunter Arena in Edmonton on Saturday, November 20. League standings and schedules are on-line at www.westernwomenshockeyleague.com.

The Big Picture with Dale Henwood: Are We Committed to Excellence?

With Athens now in the history books, our attention turns to Turin and then to Beijing. Although "non professional" sports may now fly beneath the public radar, there is no long sojourn for the athletes and their coaches between Olympic Games. Their pursuit of excellence continues. Their performance targets have been set and training regimes are in full gear. Organizations are conducting their detailed analysis to see what went well and where things could be improved as well as fine tuning their preparations for the new season.

Similarly, the CSCC is looking to see how we can better support athletes/coaches and their National Sport Federations and how we, as an organization, can get better for 2006 and 2008 and beyond.

Canada’s place within the world is under scrutiny, and our relevance is fading. The world is watching our actions on the environment, our military and our sport performances. The whole world is watching – as demonstrated by the 2004 Olympics being broadcast to 220 countries from over 300 channels to 3.9 billion people around the world. What are the messages Canada is sending? Are they messages that we are content to “play the game”, to “be at the table”, or to “be a participant”? Or do they show we are committed to achievement, excellence and endeavoring to be the best?

If excellence is important, then we need to be serious with our investment. Longer term and secure investment is essential if we want to elevate Canada up the medal table. Recent new investment is important but development takes time and investment can not be offered for just the short term.

Athletes and their coaches need a wide array of quality services that are accessible to them and services that are integrated into their life and daily environment. Most of these components exist in some form but at a rather token level; certainly not at a level that will drive excellence and medal performances.

We must change our culture of complacency to one of excellence. If we are serious, our commitment to excellence and our common vision must be communicated clearly, unambiguously, unforgettably and uncompromisingly.

Dale Henwood
President
CSCC

Mondor and Elmore lead Canada to first ever team win at North American five kilometre race.
(Canadian Sport News)

SAN DIEGO- Emilie Mondor of Mascouche, Que., did her homework after a subpar performance at the Olympic Games and it showed on Sunday as she set a Canadian and course record to lead Canada to the team gold at the North American five kilometre road race championships.

Mondor clocked 15 minutes and 16 seconds to win the women’s race for the second year in a row. That eclipsed her previous course mark of 15:23 and broke her own Canadian record of 15:19 set in April 2003.

Malindi Elmore of Calgary was second in a personal best 16:00 minutes and Tara Quinn of Waterdown, Ont., seventh in 16:53.00

‘’This is one of the greatest days in my career,’’ said Mondor, 23, who collected $1,300 for the win and a $1,000 bonus for the course record. ‘’After the Olympics I took a big break. I learned a lot from the experience. Perhaps the most important is that I have to be smarter in my training rather than trying to train as hard as possible all the time.’’

The combined performances of the men and women gave Canada its first ever team gold in the16-year history of the event. The Canadians finished first with 12 points to earn the $12,000 (U.S.) top prize while Mexico was second at 16 and the U.S., third at 19. Canada was first in the women’s standings and second in the men’s. .

Elmore, better known for her exploits over 1,500 metres, raced for only the second time in her career in a five kilometre road race.

‘’We came in here expecting to win a team,’’ said Elmore, 24. ‘’We had come so close in previous years we felt it was our time.’’

Alejandro Suarez of Mexico was also a repeat winner in the men’s race clocking 13:56. Reid Coolsaet of Guelph, Ont., was third in 14:03, Ryan McKenzie of Windsor, Ont., sixth in 14:19 and Andrew Smith of Waterdown ninth in 14:42.

‘’The Mexicans set a blistering pace but we held our own,’’ said Coolsaet, 25. ‘’It’s pretty satisfying for me to finish within 10 seconds of the winner. And then to watch our women cross the line 1-2 to give us the team title felt great.’’